Oxford Centre for High Energy Density Science (OxCHEDS)

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High pressure solid state experiments on the nova laser

International Journal of Impact Engineering 23:1 PART I (1999) 409-419

Authors:

DH Kalantar, BA Remington, EA Chandler, JD Colvin, DM Gold, KO Mikaelian, SV Weber, LG Wiley, JS Wark, AA Hauer, MA Meyers

Abstract:

An x-ray drive has been developed to shock compress metal foils in the solid state in order to study the material strength under high compression, The drive has been characterized and hydrodynamics experiments designed to study growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability in Cu foils at 3 Mbar peak pressures have been started. Pre-imposed modulations with an initial wavelength of 20-50 μm, and amplitudes of 1.0-2.5 μm show growth consistent with simulations. In this parameter regime, the fluid and solid states are expected to behave similarly for Cu. An analytic stability analysis is used to motivate an experimental design with an Al foil where the effects of material strength on the RT growth are significantly enhanced. Improved x-ray drive design will allow the material to stay solid under compression throughout the experiment, and dynamic diffraction techniques are being developed to verify the compressed state. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.
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Impulsive Coherent Control of X-rays in Bragg Crystals

Optics InfoBase Conference Papers (1999) 119-121

Authors:

RW Falcone, PH Bucksbaum, Z Chang, P Heimann, S Johnson, I Kang, H Kapteyn, RW Lee, A Lindenberg, R Merlin, T Missalla, M Mumane, H Padmore, J Wark

Investigation of a discharge-ablated capillary waveguide for high-intensity laser pulses

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1999) 410-411

Authors:

SM Hooker, DJ Spence, RA Smith
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Nuclear physics merely using a light source

Contemporary Physics 40:6 (1999) 367-383

Authors:

KWD Ledingham, PA Norreys

Abstract:

The interaction of ultra-intense focused laser beams with solid targets is a new field of research resulting in the production of exotic plasma conditions similar to the conditions which exist in the interior of some stellar objects. The lasers generate very high energy electrons and ions which can subsequently produce γ-rays, positrons, neutrons and pions. The results obtained from these studies have major implications to fundamental plasma physics and high energy accelerator physics as well as important technological potential for the production of compact sources of neutrons, positrons and isotopes.
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Observation of a highly directional γ-ray beam from ultrashort, ultraintense laser pulse interactions with solids

Physics of Plasmas 6:5 I (1999) 2150-2156

Authors:

PA Norreys, M Santala, E Clark, M Zepf, I Watts, FN Beg, K Krushelnick, M Tatarakis, AE Dangor, X Fang, P Graham, T McCanny, RP Singhal, KWD Ledingham, A Creswell, DCW Sanderson, J Magill, A Machacek, JS Wark, R Allott, B Kennedy, D Neely

Abstract:

Novel measurements of electromagnetic radiation above 10 MeV are presented for ultra intense laser pulse interactions with solids. A bright, highly directional source of y rays was observed directly behind the target. The y rays were produced by bremsstrahlung radiation from energetic electrons generated during the interaction. They were measured using the photoneutron reaction [63Cu(γ,n)62Cu] in copper. The resulting activity was measured by coincidence counting the positron annihilation γ rays which were produced from the decay of 62Cu. New measurements of the bremsstrahlung radiation at 1019 W cm-2 are also presented. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.
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